Dallas Stars Blog

Stars’ outlook is sunny on a rainy Monday morning

It’s just maybe a cup of coffee for Stars fans, but if you scan the stats this morning, you have to be at least a little encouraged.

Dallas is 3-1-0 in its last four games.

In that span, they have outscored the opposition 16-8 (an average of 4-2) and outshot them 120-102 (an averaged of 30-25.5). Dallas also has gone 2-for-13 on the power play in that span and killed 8-of-8 penalties.

That’s a huge change from earlier in the season, and it shows that the coaches are adjusting and getting their message across. At 25.5 shots against per game, the Stars are operating at a rate that would lead the NHL (St. Louis is No. 1 at 26.6). That’s impressive for a team that has been last in the NHL for most of the season (currently 28th at 31.7 against per game).

The Stars also are handing out just two power plays to the opposition over the past four games after leading the NHL with five-plus earlier in the season. That’s huge, as well, and probably has a lot to do with the shots against being down.

In addition, they are 52.2 percent in faceoffs in those games, another push up from earlier in the year.

Now, three of the four games were at home, but three also were against playoff teams in Boston, Detroit and Nashville, so that’s sort of a wash.

The bottom line is the team appears to be getting healthy (Sheldon Souray could join them Tuesday, meaning no roster regular would be hurt at that time), and appears to be finding its groove.

As we wake up this morning, Dallas is ninth in the NHL in points percentage (23-16-1, .588). That’s sixth in the Western Conference. Now, they are divided by scant percentage points and scants wins. However, their 21 regulation or overtime wins ranks fourth in the West, and they have a game in hand (or two) on most of the teams in the West.

In other words, they’re in pretty good shape right now. Can they keep it up? Could they be even better with Souray possibly back and Kari Lehtonen seemingly getting over his flu? Are the players and coaches really learning from each other and figuring things out?

At this point, it seems worthwhile to tune in and follow the story to see where it goes.